Championship Presenting Sponsor Qualcomm Incorporated and Others Celebrate Young Inventors from 33 Countries at FIRST Championship in Houston

HOUSTON, April 22, 2017 – This week, more than 15,000 students from around the world traveled to Houston, putting their innovation skills to the test at the annual FIRST Championship Presented by Qualcomm Incorporated, held at the George R. Brown Convention Center, Minute Maid Park and Discovery Green.

The four-day event, attended by nearly 30,000 people, came down to a heart-pounding conclusion Saturday night in front of thousands of cheering fans at Minute Maid Park when teams from FIRST® Robotics Competition and FIRST® Tech Challenge competed in match finals. Four teams from Atascadero, California; Tucson, Arizona; Seattle, Washington; and Berkeley, California earned the FIRST Robotics Competition Winning Alliance award for this year’s game, FIRST STEAMWORKSSM. Teams from Sun River, Montana; San Diego, California; and Pearl, Mississippi, won the FIRST Tech Challenge VELOCITY VORTEXSM Winning Alliance.

Over 15,000 students, ages 6-18, participated in FIRST Championship Houston.

Selected Quotes:

FIRST Founder Dean Kamen said: This year, we added a second championship event. That is because we can’t contain the energy and the excitement of FIRST Championship to one city. In a world unwinding, it’s critical to develop more kids with the toolset, the vision and the ability to work together to deal with difficult problems. At FIRST, we inspire enthusiastic young people to learn, work hard and one day – change the world.

Erica Fessia, Director of Community Engagement for Qualcomm, said: FIRST ignites kids interest in their own potential. It is inspired, empathetic, and STEM-enabled. Qualcomm is excited to be a part of the FIRST community. Through FIRST, Qualcomm meets many great people that we can bring into our Qualcomm community.

Esben Staerk Jørgensen, President, LEGO Education, said: Did you know that everything you have ever learned in your life builds on your experience as a child? That is why LEGO Education, the LEGO Foundation, together with FIRST and other organizations, work together so that children have a playful learning experience. Play literally helps build our brains because when children play, they learn skills for life.

Among the participants, many earned honors for design excellence, competitive play, research, business plans, website design, and teamwork. A not-for-profit organization founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) inspires young people’s interest and participation in science and technology.

In Houston, nearly 700 teams from 33 countries competed in the four FIRST programs: FIRST® LEGO® League (grades 4 to 8, ages 9 to 14 in the United States, Canada, and Mexico; ages 9 to 16 outside the United States, Canada, and Mexico); FIRST Tech Challenge (grades 7 to 12, ages 12 to 18); FIRST Robotics Competition (grades 9 to 12, ages 14 to 18). In addition to the high-energy robotics matches, 60 teams participated in the FIRST® LEGO League Jr. (grades K-4, ages 6 to 10) World Festival Expo.

FIRST Championship Houston honored significant supporters of the FIRST mission:

Glenn Lee, Mentor, Team 359, Waialua Robotics (The Hawaiian Kids), was the recipient of the Woodie Flowers Award, founded by Dr. William P. Murphy Jr. to recognize an outstanding engineer or teacher who best demonstrates teaching excellence in science, math, and creative design.

Jon Kamen, producer and founder of @radical.media, was the recipient of the Make it Loud Award, presented by will.i.am, given to the person who has contributed the most in increasing the awareness of FIRST to the general public.

2017 FIRST Championship Winners

The 2017 winners of the competitions are as follows:

Dean’s List Award:

From FIRST Robotics Competition:

Xavier Balladarez, Team 5627, πrtz (Pi-rates), San Diego, Calif.

Sreekar Mantena, Team 5511, Cortechs Robotics, Cary, N.C.

Simran Pujji, Team 8, Paly Robotics, Palo Alto, Calif.

Zachary Rolfness, Team 1165, Team Paradise, Cave Creek, Ariz.

Rebekah Travis, Team 4087, Falcon Robotics, New Orleans, La.

Madeline Smith, Team 2723, Team Rocket, Oklahoma City, Okla.

From FIRST Tech Challenge:

Elizabeth Bray, Team 7022, Robostangs, Birmingham, Ala.

Gokul Kolady, Team 7013, Hot Wired, Portland, Ore.

Rhett Pimentel, Team 3188, Squiggle Splat Bang, Powell, Wyo.

Aila Simpson, Team 3491, FIX IT, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

1. FIRST® Robotics Competition Championship – FIRST Robotics Competition combines sports excitement with the rigors of science and technology. Under strict rules, limited resources, and time limits, teams are challenged to fundraise, design a brand, exercise teamwork, and build and program robots to perform tasks against competitors.

More than 83,000 students on 3,336 teams from 25 countries competed during the 2017 season.

Team 3132, Thunder Down Under, Sydney, Australia, won the Chairman’s Award, the highest honor given at the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship, recognizing the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the purpose and goals of FIRST

The Winning Alliance of the FIRST Robotics Competition was Team 973, Greybots, Atascadero, Calif.; Team 1011, CRUSH, Tucson, Ariz.; Team 2928, Viking Robotics, Seattle, Wash.; and Team 5499, Bay Orangutans, Berkeley, Calif.

2. FIRST®Tech Challenge World Championship – FIRST Tech Challenge students learn to think like engineers. Teams build robots from a reusable kit of parts, develop strategies, document their progress, and compete head to head. For this year’s game, VELOCITY VORTEXSM Presented by Qualcomm Incorporated, teams work in an Alliance to score points against their opponents by placing balls into vortexes, including one on a rotatable stand in the center of the field. In the final 30 seconds of the match, robots can raise a large ball off the playing field and place the ball in their center vortex.

Approximately 1,500 students on 128 FIRST Tech Challenge teams competed during the 2016-2017 FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship. This season’s Sponsors included Official Program Sponsor, Rockwell Collins; Official IoT, CAD, and Collaboration Software Sponsor, PTC; and Season Presenting Sponsor, Qualcomm.

The FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship Inspire Award, recognizing excellence in robot design and teamwork, went to Team 3491, FIX IT, from Victoria, Canada.

The Winning Alliance was Team 724, RedNek Robotics Wun, Sun River, Mont.; Team 4216, Rise of Hephaestus, San Diego, Calif.; and Team 8651, Wait For It..., Pearl, Miss.

The FIRST Tech ChallengeVolunteer of the Year Award winner was Robert Atkinson from Woodinville, Washington. The Compass Award for excellence in coaching/mentoring was awarded to Krishnan Duraiswami. He was nominated for this award by Team 4855, Batteries In Black, from Portland, Oregon.

3. FIRST® LEGO® League World Festival – FIRST LEGO League introduces younger students to real-world engineering challenges by conducting research projects and building LEGO-based autonomous robots to complete tasks on a thematic playing surface. FIRST LEGO League teams, guided by their imaginations, discover exciting career possibilities and learn to make positive contributions to society. This year’s challenge, ANIMAL ALLIESSM, tasked approximately 255,000 students on 32,000 teams with improving how animals and humans learn from, interact with, and help one another.

4. FIRST® LEGO® League Jr. World Festival Expo– FIRST LEGO League Jr. introduces children ages 6 to 10 to the exciting world of science and technology. Teams of up to six children and two adult Coaches take on a real-world Challenge, to be explored through research, critical thinking, and imagination. In this year’s Challenge, CREATURE CRAZESM, students learned about animals and explored their habitats.

FIRST®LEGO® League Jr. awards went to:

Research and Show Me Poster Awards

Explosive Ideas Award –

Team 6007, Blessing Beasts, Tampa, Fla.

Team 10739, Los Leones de LEGO, San Jose, Costa Rica

Picasso Award –

Team 10743, Nature Lovers, of Mont Lebanon, Lebanon

Team 10745, The ANT AGENTS, Jiangxi, Nanchang, China

Team 10771, The Pollinator Girls, Sugar Land, Texas

Spirit and Fun Awards

Team Spirit Award –

Team 8428, Bling Bots, Houston, Texas

Team 8506, Girls of Steel, Laredo, Texas

Team 7648, ROFL9000, Sugar Land, Texas

Rising Stars Award –

Team 5031, DAV Bees, Houston, Texas

Team 521, Master Builders, Jacksonville, Fla.

Team 4327, The Wolf Girls, Missouri City, Texas

Science Knowledge and Learning Awards

Lil’ Einstein Award –

Team 10747, Bumble Rumbles, Shanghai, China

Team 9514, Humming Bees, Redmond, Wash.

Team 970, Robo Wildcats Team 1, Los Angeles, Calif.

Effort and Learning Award –

Team 8286, Bumblebees, Beaverton, Ore.

Team 9980, ERUPTING SMARTNESS, Parker, Colo.

Team 2285, Robo Wildcats Team 4, Los Angeles, Calif.

Inquiring Minds Award –

Team 7803, Angelbots Confetti, El Paso, Texas

Team 6124, MINI-ENS, Albuquerque, N.M.

Team 4720, PHI Nominals, Lancaster, Calif.

Terrific Thinkers Award –

Team 6041, 007 Skyrockets, Athens, Ala.

Team 8898, Gemini Jetstars – Stinger Swords, Melbourne Beach, Fla.

Team 8402, The Legendary Kings, Sugar Land, Texas

Redefining Learning Award –

Team 5263, Ochoa STEMnventors, Grand Prairie, Texas

Team 8313, THE LEGO BEES, Phoenix, Ariz.

Core Values Awards

Gracious Professionalism® Award –

Team 8200, Junior Eagles, Holloman Air Force Base, N.M.

Team 7844, Robo Girls, Houston, Texas

Team 8971, Wildcat Whizzes, Atlanta, Ga.

Outstanding Teamwork Award –

Team 6564, Colorado Wolf Pack, Castle Rock, Colo.

Team 4856, Ninja Warriors, Houston, Texas

Team 5740, Rubicon Red – Awesome Scientific LEGO Bears, Spring, Texas

Coopertition Award –

Team 10742, Avengers Bulls, Monterrey, Mexico

Team 8779, Mayo Blue, Tulsa, Okla.

Team 8408, The Smarties, Sugar Land, Texas

LEGO® Models, Machines and Programming Awards

Solid as a Rock Award –

Team 4855, Chasing Cheetahs, Houston, Texas

Team 10735, Magic Bees, Alexadria, Egypt

Team 8075, The HiveBots, Missouri City, Texas

Construction Innovation Award –

Team 7819, LEGO ALL STARS, Sugar Land, Texas

Team 4389, Super LEGOtastics, Jackson, Ga.

Team 8409, The Razor Eagles, Sugar Land, Texas

Master Programmer Award –

Team 10741, BeeBats, Panama

Team 10744, LeXT team, Beijing, China

Team 8312, The Plasmites, Mesa, Ariz.

Simply Awesome Machine Award –

Team 4336, Awesome LEGO Bots, Valrico, Fla.

Team 4323, B.E.E.s, Titusville, Fla.

Team 8080, The MinionBots, Missouri City, Texas

Amazing Movement Award –

Team 9072, BollesBots, Jacksonville, Fla.

Team 6161, Holy Family Bears 4, Port Allen, La.

Team 10736, Junior Robid, of Mexico City, Mexico

Complexity and Decoration Award –

Team 8987, Curious Kids, Keller, Texas

Team 9379, LEGO Quakes, Phoenix, Ariz.

Robust Design Award –

Team 10740, HexaBee, of Hong Kong

Team 5699, Holy Family Bears #1, Port Allen, La.

Team 5743, Rubicon Blue – The Butterflies, Spring, Texas

The 2017 FIRST Championship will continue next week in St. Louis, Missouri, happening from April 26 to 30 at various venues throughout the city. Visit firstchampionship.org to learn more.

About FIRST®
Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With support from over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies and more than $50 million in college scholarships, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST® Robotics Competition for students in Grades 9-12; FIRST® Tech Challenge for Grades 7-12; FIRST® LEGO® League for Grades 4-8; and FIRST® LEGO® League Jr. for Grades K-4. Gracious Professionalism® is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. To learn more about FIRST, go to www.firstinspires.org